Beauty Aches
by Halewyn's Lady
Summary: A 'Snow White: fairest of them all' fan fic. Snow White/Queen Elspeth. This story takes place years after the film. Snow White is feeling quite depressed when Queen Elspeth suddenly pops up. I'm bad at writing summaries.
1. Chapter 1

I was studying when my inner pixie started running around my head with loads of fanfic material.

"Not now. I need to concentrate."

The pixie leaned over to see my course book. "ooh, what's it about?"

"How different languages relate to each other."

"Pff, boring!"

I would have hit her off my shoulder hadn't she been hugging my neck.

I continued studying, while she was humming, distracting me. But I persevere. Every few seconds she softly tugged at the choker I'm wearing.

Finally I lost my patience. "Yes? What is it?"

Delighted my inner pixie jumps on the table. She opens my agenda and points to a picture glued in it.

"Ok, queen Elspeth. What about her?"

My pixie's eyes lit up she opens her mouth and an explosion of fic-ishness enters my mind. I feverishly try to pen it all down.

And that's how this story came to be. Enjoy the first chapter.

I do not own the film nor characters.

She had been his queen for fourteen years now, give or take a few. Their people celebrated the royal marriage each year. It was a quick reminder of how long she had been stuck in this never changing situation. One day of festivities after which she could forget the exact number again for an entire year.

Snow White looked up at her husband as he entered the room. Her one true love. Sadness glistened in her eyes. He was a caring, honest man. She continued to love him for that. The queen sighed.

"Is anything wrong, my love?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just feel… awkward today."

"You are troubled because there still isn't an heir to the throne." He inhaled, making a rueful sound deep in his throat.

"No, yes. I do not know." Snow White smiled tenderly at him.

He laughed at her confusion. He placed himself beside her, wearing his most boyish and endearing smile on his face. "One of us will have to live forever then and rule the kingdom." He took her hands in his. Trying to lift her spirit.

"Don't joke, I'm not in the mood."

For a moment he stared at her. "You are still as beautiful as the day I first saw you."

She shook her head. "No I'm not."

"You are, you always will be to me." He placed a hand over her cheek. "Stop worrying." He kissed her softly. "You are still beautiful."

"Yes," she muttered as he crushed his lips to hers again. His neediness made him aggressive. "I know I am." She whispered, turning her head slightly away from him. _But you are not._

He saw her eyes grow cold. "What is it?" His were filled with concern. His entire soul was. He behaved like this on all the days she kept a distance from courtly life. She was starting to dislike him for it, wishing she wouldn't.

"Could you leave? I need a moment to myself." He did as she wanted him to. When the door closed, Snow White was suddenly able to breath freely again. Knowing that he wasn't there to see her feeling miserable. She buried her head in her pale hands. Slightly trembling. External beauty had never mattered to her. Then why did it scare her to loose it?

"I don't want to be beautiful!" she cried out. Less people would love her if she hadn't been this pretty. She would have had friends who mostly loved her for who she was on the inside. Now she was unsure who might abandon her as she grew older.

Appearances were far too important in these royal circles. Beauty had only one face to Snow White. Elspeth's.

And she was pure evil.

On the brink of sobbing she started muttering to herself. "Mirror… mirror…"

"_Now you are the fairest of them all."_

Snow White's tears turned cold on her cheeks. "I am not." She stated, not lifting her head.

"_You are the fairest of them all."_

"No!" She jumped up to see the form of her stepmother coming out of her mirror.

"You are…"

Walls turned to reveal more mirrors hidden on the other side.

"_You are the fairest of them all."_

"No," In dread she watched the illusions reach out to her. " you are...

You are dead! I.. I…"

"… buried my bones yourself." Queen Elspeth's likeness smiled at her. "Under the Juniper tree."

"I did." Snow White whispered incomprehensively.

"How does it feel? When someone who you wanted and believed dead, in fact isn't. Don't you just hate when that happens?" Elspeth laughed. Her voice echoed through the room. "Doesn't it make you want to go up to her and strangle her yourself?" The images of Elspeth enclosed Snow White. Anywhere she looked she saw her right in front of her. "Doesn't it make you want to shout?"

"Go away!" Snow White ran towards the door, staying well out of the illusions' reach.

"Shout, little girl. Shout!"

The door snapped shut before her eyes.

*author's note: shout, shout, let it all out. These are the things I can do without. Come on, I'm talking to you, come on.*

Only two, maybe three, more chapters to go. I already made a draft, written when taken over by the pixie. I will finish and post it when I find time to.

PS I do not own the song 'Shout' either. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Could there really be no other 'Snow White Fairest of them all' fiction? That is strange. Queen Elspeth is such a cute villain.

Now witness the awesomeness of my inner pixie muhahaha

/

She quickly discovered that pushing nor pulling could alter the status of the door.

"Stop this magic." Snow White demanded in her most regal tone of voice.

"Tell me, dear, are you still afraid of growing up?"

"I hate you."

"Yes, the feeling was mutual." Elspeth answered with all the motherly affection she could muster. "Does our kind-hearted queen hold grudges?" she asked clearly delighted at the thought.

"I learned over the years to pity you.

You let your life be ruled by mere appearance. You gave up everything you had to stop me from …"

"Cease this sympathetic nonsense " Queen Elspeth interrupted with a smile. "and tell me how you really feel. How much you hate me." Now only one mirror held her image. Though she could reach out for Snow White it seemed she could not step out of the mirror. This gave Snow White the courage she needed to stay calm.

"I already told you."

"Have it your way. I have more gifts for you. Dresses, jewels, combs, apples "

The young queen stepped closer to the mirror looking the dead one defiantly in the eye. "I do not want any of your gifts." Bright blue eyes reflected Snow White's own image and venomous jealousy.

"Handing out dangerous gifts does seem to run in the family." Elspeth mocked. She smiled as she waited for Snow White to get the joke. But she didn't, for Elspeth had never spoken to anyone about her brother. "I never thought you were that beautiful anyway." Elspeth had the rare talent to make Snow White feel like she was less than six years old in only one sentence.

Snow White had never before stood this close to her. She saw the line drawn above Elspeth's eyes, wondering as she used to when she was a child how she could draw it on so perfectly. Elspeth was holding a strand of raven hair in her hand. Snow White would never have allowed the woman to touch her in the past. While she considered pulling away Snow White realised that she couldn't. The mirror was drawing her closer or the room was moving her forward, rejecting her. Some magic power forced her to take small steps approaching the mirror until she met its surface. She felt the floor give way as she fell into the mirror.

/

Hands gripping at her. Elspeth's hands, she knew though she couldn't see, taking her by the arms. Sliding to her shoulders to get a better hold on her. Pulling her deeper into the mirror. Snow White tried to shake them off. Sharp nails dug into her flesh, drawing blood. She ran, or at least she thought she did. She could barely feel whether she was moving or not. Hands now tore at her clothes. She lashed out into the emptiness of the mirror. Screaming as hard as she could. A little girl fighting her nightmare.

Elspeth, satisfied of her game, let her go. Or had her own defence saved her from the mirror's grasp? Snow White could not tell.

Her breath faltered mid-scream as she hit the floor. Snow White had fallen on her back. Back in the mirror room of her own castle. Elspeth's image had not disappeared. It towered over her from one mirror, the one she had drawn Snow White into. Elspeth's loosely pinned up hair still fell impeccably around her face. Even though Snow White knew for certain that she had torn at the queen's hair in their fight and had succeeded in ripping out several of those shiny ginger hairs.

Snow White caught her own reflection in another mirror. Her gown was torn at her legs. Red scratch marks decorated her arms. As if that was not bad enough there was an unmistakable aesthetic quality about her injuries. All of the other mirrors surrounding her reflected this picture. It gave her a most uncomfortable feeling. The feeling of being watched instead of observing herself. Elspeth clearly enjoyed seeing her lie helpless on the floor. This whole situation seemed terribly unfair to Snow White. She was queen here, at the centre and height of her power, wife to the ruler of a most prosperous land. Elspeth's image could not even detach itself from a mirror.

"I could have ripped your heart out of your chest just now and eaten it, raw if necessary. Trust me, I would do it in a jiffy if that would secure my return."

Snow White backed away in disgust. This amused the queen even more.

"You look prettier when you show some emotion. When you first appeared in my mirror… I couldn't believe that you were supposed to be more beautiful than me." She laughed. "You are so extremely dull!"

Snow White had to force herself to speak. "What is it that you want then?" She asked through gritted teeth. Elpeth was almost giggling wickedly as she spoke. "The same I ever wanted: beauty. Think about it." Her teasing expression darkened for a split second.

"Think of me tomorrow, eating you, under the juniper tree.

Until we meet again, fairest."

She cast Snow White a faint smile as her elegant form retreated in the mirror.

Snow White hurried toward the door, finding it unlocked.

/

Without doubt it had been loveliest smile she had ever seen. More beautiful than any her husband had given her. Here she was doing the very thing she hated most: judging by appearance.

She realised that it had been the longest conversation she had ever had with her stepmother. This scared her to death.

His hands reached under her nightgown, wrapping themselves around her waist.

"Not tonight, I am feeling ill."

The image of the cold-hearted queen holding out her arms as to embrace wouldn't leave Snow White alone. _You are the fairest of them all. _

The place was emptiness. The man before her was solemn and grey as stone.

He was Fate. That was all she knew about him and all she needed to know for wanting to keep away from him. The strange being put a hand in his cloak, taking out the same object he offered her every night since queen Elspeth's death. A hand mirror which she knew had shattered into nothingness long ago.

"It was your mother's."

"My stepmother's." Snow White corrected bitterly, her pretty face contorted by anger.

Despite her resentment she felt her fingers touch the surface of the magic mirror.

The dream dissolved, taking the Green-Eyed One with him.

/

She looked out of a castle window. In the garden gnomes were working. Pulling out weeds, watering plants. They were excellent gardeners. Very diligent, always cheerful, always dressed in bright colours. They irritated her. She knew they weren't as innocent as they appeared to be. And neither was she.

Snow White saw the rainbow indicating the dwarves' arrival. Just seeing them from a distance already made her feel better. She hurried down the stairs. "You love those tiny men more than you love me." Her husband had often said to her, feigning a disapproving smile. At which she would kiss him. For the first time taking this remark seriously she thought _Well, maybe I do. _Jealousy wasn't king Alfred's nicest characteristic. She had been avoiding her husband that day and she was not sure why. The thoughts occupying her head had not involved him. She had been pondering on how she wished life to be had she been less beautiful. Being able to live alone and take care of a garden which belonged only to her did sound very appealing.

She was sitting in the shade under the juniper tree. The following day her father would come to visit.

After she had been kissed awake all those years ago she and her prince had returned to her father's castle. Snow White had tried to forget what she had thought on seeing the bones they found there. An effort which had only resulted in making the memory stay fresher than any other. The queen's snow white bones had been beautiful. Shreds of dress lying around them. Snow White had found the shoes as well, removed several feet from the bones. This had made her imagine that Queen Elspeth had danced herself to death. The happy gnomes had greeted them. They were celebrating their return to a non-statuesque existence all over the palace and garden. As they ran joyously past the bones towards Snow White and her prince she saw their blood soaked hands and faces. But no, there had been no indication of the gnomes killing the evil queen. She had imagined the blood. Snow White had gathered the bones in tattered pieces of cloth from Elspeth's dress. Their small gang had gone to the queen's mirror room to release her father. After their happy reunion she had joined her prince on his horse to be taken to his kingdom. There she had buried the bones, far away from where queen Elspeth's magic had ruled. Those ivory bones were buried right here. Under the tree they were picnicking under.

The two gnomes in front of her finished their happy dance. She applauded, smiling. They made a handsome couple. They wore matching clothes, that made it even cuter. In fact they would look perfect on the west side of the garden, next to the blue bench there. If only they would stop moving. She shook her head at those strange thoughts. "I am tired, that's all." she whispered to herself and went inside. She couldn't get last night out of her head.

/

Please raise your hands if gnomes scare you

Dear Arwen17 my pixie is angry with you for guessing part of the plot. But I'm not. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Well, I have an irrational fear of garden gnomes and 'the juniper tree' is the scariest fairy tale I ever read. So why did I put both these things in my fic? :/

Hihi Frik the garden gnome. That is a brilliant idea of Mab.

Let's start off by saying that I do respect these characters and their hate for each other.

I just couldn't resist doing this. The original film lets Mirror-Snow White kiss Queen Elspeth - Elspeth looked so cute when in shock. – They would want fics like this to be written!

/

He held up a broad waistband. "This goes with the blue dress, to accentuate your hips. It is embroidered with silver thread."

She shot another disdainful glance at the two dresses. "Won't you try one on, your majesty?" He had made these dresses especially for the royal visit that afternoon. It had taken him many days. The tailor became nervous by her silence. She would like to make him feel less uncomfortable but wasn't in the mood to make the effort needed.

"I was told that your father would prefer the red one."

The red dress had a flowing skirt, it reminded her too much of the gowns Elspeth used to wear. Both of the dresses did.

The tailor tried to keep himself from sighing. It was terrible a pity that a beauty like the queen took no interest whatsoever in fashion.

"The court does not like way you are neglecting yourself. With your permission your majesty, a beautiful woman like yourself should take better care of the way she looks. You are a queen after all. It is your duty, to your husband and your people to shine at the side of the king."

She looked down at her lap. The whiteness of her skin perfectly matched the white fabric of her undergown.

She did not want to be here. She had checked the door when entering. The lock worked perfectly. She had inspected the walls as well. There were no hinges to be found indicating a revolving wall. There was only one mirror in the room.

Whatever ghost appearance had taken place the previous day, she was sure it would not come as long as she had someone with her in the room. Still nothing could lessen the growing premonition that she had to run away.

Queen Snow White slowly rose from her chair and began pacing around in front of the mirror. Clearing her mind before she addressed the tailor.

/

She was not sure whether this was the mirror room of her castle. It looked like it, and it didn't. It could be Elspeth's mirror room just as well. It could be a reflection of either of them. Mirrors locked inside a mirror.

She was sitting crouched on the cold floor. She couldn't remember how or when she got there. Her snow white gown spread around her. It had fallen to the floor. Reduced to shreds. She noticed her shoes lying afar.

Queen Elspeth was looking at her from a few meters off. Gracefully, teasingly she approached Snow White. Her gown was black as death itself. Her dress tightly embraced her body. Her hair was partly pinned up. A few lush locks fell down lightly caressing her shoulders. Her beauty was supreme.

The queen knelt before Snow White. To pick up her broken bones, wrap them in valuable cloth and burry them. Snow White's pale hands rested in her lap. She would not look at the queen. Elspeth lowered her slender hand to Snow White's. There it rested. The side of her palm gently brushing Snow White's inner thighs as she leaned in. Cautiously the queen savoured those blood red lips.

Her lips lingered on Snow White's like bittersweet honey. Against her wishes Snow White responded to the kiss. Smilingly Elspeth deepened it.

Snow White pulled away, breathing heavily. She remained silent, as ever. The one thing she had always been good at.

Elspeth's hand rested in the back of Snow White's neck, fiddling with her hair. "Your prince does not take good care of you." She pressed her body close to Snow White, who fell backwards. A creamy smile crept on Elspeth's face as she lay on top of the startled queen.

Elspeth drew sharp pins from her hair and flicked them into the wooden floor. Her hair fell around Snow White's face as a curtain of warm sunlight. Snow White found she couldn't breath as Elspeth closed in on her again. Her hands reached up, Elspeth swiftly took the crown that had fallen from the young queen's head.

She jumped up. Holding the crown up as a trophy. "Mine." She laughed, twirling around. _I'm the fairest_ she smirked to herself. _I am queen_.

Snow White had difficulty recognising her distant and treacherous stepmother in the cheerful woman flaunting in front of the mirrors.

She looked around, there was no exit to this chamber. It appeared she had fallen from one of the many mirrors. Snow White had a vague recollection of ordering the tailor to leave her alone in the mirror room. She had come of her own accord. Through the mirror. That's where it had gone wrong last time, when Elspeth had tried to drag her in.

Snow White started pulling what remained of her dress to her. She carefully rose from the floor, holding the rags pressed against her. Elspeth was talking to her. Snow White did not listen. She had no reason to. Queen Elspeth's eyes never left her own reflection. Perhaps beauty had made her so insecure that she could not talk freely without being able to gaze at herself. Snow White had always taken her for a confident woman. But the young queen knew like no other that appearances can be deceiving.

As Elspeth was smiling happily to herself, Snow White grew sad. For the first time she saw her stepmother for what she truly was: afraid.

She limped towards the mirror closest to her. She had twisted her ankle while fighting Elspeth last night. She reached out for the mirror. Guilt flashed over Snow White's face as Elspeth turned her face. For a moment the evil queen looked alarmed.

"Uncover yourself, girl." Snow White did not. She touched the mirror's hard surface. She pressed against it with all her might. The mirror glass remained in place, so did she.

"You never did know how to take pleasure in beauty." Elspeth mocked. "Or in anything else." She had turned her back on Snow White again. Her fingers were fiddling with the cords at the back of her dress.

Snow White had no choice but to stay and watch.

Elspeth continued talking. " I tried to deny it, to fight it." She sighed softly. Her eyes focused on Snow White's reflection. "I have lost my place. I have accepted the truth." That did not sound the least bit credible to Snow White. Elspeth stressed her words: "You no longer are my enemy."

Snow White's face remained blank. "You are the beautiful one. Always were, always will be." She said in a level voice.

"Sweet of you." Elspeth giggled, observing herself once more in the mirrors. "Look at me" she smirked. "all dressed up."

She glanced back at Snow White. The sad, lost queen who still held her torn dress to her. "This beauty contest can not be called fair. We'll have to equal the chances." She started loosening her dress.

"I see no reason for measuring our beauty. Beauty doesn't prove anything."

Queen Elspeth shrugged. "It is in a shallow world we live in. The concept of inner beauty you refer to has little to no value."

She took off her crown with care and put it on the floor.

"I have often been irritated" Elspeth hissed. "by your lack of showing emotions."

"I never was dull."

Elspeth gloated, she knew that sentence from their last conversation would have lingered in Snow White's mind.

She turned to her, stepping closer. "Prove it."

"A vain hearted person like you would not understand any other form of beauty."

Elspeth smiled and nodded.

She walked towards the girl. Her lips slightly parted. A predator approaching its prey. "You need to grow up."

She knelt down in front of Snow White, leaving her shoes behind. Snow White showed no emotion. She was in need of the mother she never had. She was scared of growing older. She was furious at herself for fearing that.

Elspeth's thumb slowly caressed her temple. It was a matter of mere months before Snow White's first wrinkles would appear there. "It hurts." Snow White whispered. She sat perfectly still, as if paralysed.

"I know it does."

Snow White's eyes would not let go of the queen's lips. If she kept staring any longer her gaze would trip, making her own lips fall on those beautifully painted ones. Elspeth took the young queen in her arms. Allowing herself to let her lips glide over Snow White's smooth hair. She closed her eyes. "I have held you in my arms before." She whispered. "I have felt your loneliness."

"Before you poisoned me." Snow White tried to break away from her, Elspeth kept her down.

"You are beauty." Elspeth breathed into her ear. "I crave you, my dear."

She brushed away the pieces of cloth Snow White had modestly kept in front of her.

"Oh how I do…" She kissed her neck up to her face. "wanted. to. claw out those pretty, innocent eyes. Tear that silken hair from your head." It was the yearning in her voice that made Snow White shiver as Elspeth embraced her.

Elspeth looked her in the eye. "Remember when I offered you the apple?" she asked fondly. "That desperate expression on your face. I really thought you beautiful then, my pet." She smiled eagerly, amused, like a child. "Wasn't it the sweetest death you could ever have imagined?" She stroke Snow White's tightly clenched jaw, wishing away the hateful look in those dark eyes.

Snow White's body shook, holding back tears and anger. She wanted to smash that witch against a mirror. Hoping it would break or that Elspeth would fall through it and be gone forever. She had never felt such destructive rage before.

She wanted to yell at her. She did not find the words to. She had managed to get up and push Elspeth away. Now she stood there, silent, alone with her frustrations. Still shaking.

Elspeth grabbed Snow White by her upper arms, watching her eyes become watery. "I am not used to…" she muttered.

"Hush, I know." Elspeth took her in her arms again. She doubted she knew any nursery rhymes to calm the white queen. It took Snow White quite some time to notice that Elspeth was raking her hair. She was surprised to find this did comfort her.

Her head rested against Elspeth's chest. Her skin smelled of apple blossoms. Snow White started to relax. She softly kissed Elspeth's collar bone.

"Better?" Snow White smiled.

She felt Elspeth's dress against her hands. She fingered the fabric of it. She found the half undone state of Elspeth's dress most attractive. Her hands acted as by themselves as she started unlacing it further.

For a moment that calculated look returned to Elspeth's eyes as she placed her pale lips on Snow White's again. Almost hungrily the young queen kissed her. Snow White's hands dwelled down her arms. She slid the many rings that Elspeth wore off her fingers. Those cold rings that had scratched her skin but the other night. When trying to escape what she was now running into.

"If it means that much to you, let us settle this beauty contest." Elspeth smiled, liking the way Snow White was thinking.

Snow White helped her out of her dress, leaving Elspeth's hair slightly dishevelled. They both stood in front of the mirrors. Equal chances. Elspeth paced around Snow White. Her hair loose, long and shiny it flowed on her back as she moved. "We're not done yet." Snow White said. Elspeth took off her necklace. She offered it to Snow White, holding it in front of her. She shook her head. Elspeth threw it to the ground.

Snow White smeared the thin lines of make-up from the queen's eyes.

She pressed her against one of the mirrors. Carefully, as if not to break her. Elspeth wrapped herself around Snow White, digging her fingertips in her shoulders. The soft edge of Elspeth's tongue stroke against her skin, leaving a faint trace of lipstick behind. Snow White's skin truly tasted like snow. Cool and soft.

Most of the time Snow White did not know who was pressed against the mirror. Nor which mirror they were pressed against. In Elspeth's mirror room, in Snow White's own castle, in the world between mirrors. They kissed and bit each other's lips until they bled. All this time they made no sound. Their movements slowed down. Snow White had lost almost all feeling in her legs. She held Elspeth against the floor, having no idea when Elspeth had guided them there. The former queen softly started purring.

She arched her back as Snow White kissed her way down. Her purrs turned to soft shrieks of pleasure. Elspeth drew the girl- Snow White would always remain a young girl in her eyes- up to meet her lips again. Her silken hair shielded the queen from the world. Covering her in night.

Elspeth rolled them over. Teasingly kissed her, then rolled over again. There was such fire in Elspeth, such fear of losing what she had. After a while they lay next to each other catching their breath.

"So is …" Elspeth smiled light-heartedly. She couldn't remember his name. "that silly boy, the little king still to your liking?" A finger trailed down Snow White's side. "I recall I soon lost interest in your father's bed. "

Snow White lay motionless on the wooden floor, looking more like a marble statue than a human being.

"If I am not mistaken I am making you angry. Can you not, for once tell what's on your mind."

"Why? You never listened to me." Silence fell. Snow White shifted, looking back at Elspeth. "I do not want you to talk about my father. He would be ashamed if…"

"We don't need to talk at all." Elspeth grinned.

Elspeth took her hand. She moved on top of her, entwining their hands.

"Killing me twice wasn't enough?" Snow White whispered slowly as her breathing became deeper.

Elspeth did not reply. Snow White saw the twinkle in her eyes. Showing emotion was just what the queen wanted her to do. That witch would love to see Snow White try taking revenge on her.

"No," Snow White started panting, too late. Her voice was fragile as belonging to the little girl they had never allowed her to be. "I am married."

"I am dead." Espeth laughed, loving her own sense of humour.

Snow White gasped at those words. Elspeth's hand had slid between her legs.

Elspeth had been right. Talking was unnecessary.

/

Self-satisfied Queen Elspeth lay on her back. Completely relaxed with her nudity. She looked like she ruled the world. Snow White, having the uncontrollable desire to touch her again, lay her head on Elspeth's chest. "Am I awake now?" she asked silently. Elspeth caressed the tired queen. A vulnerable girl, who had crept close to her. Snow White kissed her breasts.

"This has been fun." Elspeth grinned. She lifted Snow White's chin. "I need you to get back now." Her voice remained as playful as ever. She stood up, drawing Snow White up with her.

Snow White smiled to her. A smile of innocence. How deceiving appearances could be. They both knew that neither of them was innocent.

"I don't want to go." she said.

"Tsk tsk" Elspeth took up her own dress and helped Snow White get into it.

"You will go, I want you to." She kissed the back of her neck as she tightened the strings of the bodice.

Snow White moaned ever so softly. "Is it too tight?"

"No, please continue." Jolts like lightning jumped from her groin to her spine as Elspeth tightened the dress.

Elspeth's hands now slid over the back of her neck, through her midnight hair, leaving white pearls and red ribbons there. Snow White had such straight hair it hardly ever needed brushing. With a sensual touch Elspeth continued to pin up her hair. After she had put her own necklace tight around Snow White's neck her hands lingered on the girl's shoulders.

Snow White turned round, grabbing hold of Elspeth, kissing her. "How" she said huskily "how can you be the same person who died all those years ago?"

"Oh she is, I am quite dead."

For a moment Snow White's mask of silent suffering returned. Closing off her feelings. Yet she did not back away.

"I made queen Elspeth who she was. I was her very reason for joy, sorrow, insanity. In a way it was I who made you suffer."

"Then you are…"

"I am her." She smiled at Snow White's confussion. "An impression held in a mirror by magic. It was a spell granted to her before you knew her."

"What spell?"

"Eternal beauty. You see? That is why she, why I can not die."

Suddenly Snow White felt embarrassed, felt sick, felt all she knew she should have felt moments before but for some reason had not.

She looked away. Her eyes skimmed the floor.

Her shoes were lying at the other side of the room. "Take mine." Elspeth said. Snow White did what she said.

"Now look in the mirror."

Snow White, feeling every bit a small child again, stubbornly shook her head. She gazed up anyway. She saw both of them standing there. One dressed, one not. The same as they had started out here. It did not look real. She turned to Elspeth. The former queen was the only thing which did look real to her in the entire room.

"How do I look?"

"Beautiful." Elspeth smiled mirthfully. Not a trace of contempt or envy left.

She placed the crown back on Snow White's head and pushed her through the mirror.

/

A body was lying on the floor. Elspeth laughed. It was white as snow, black as ebony, red as blood. Thankfully not much blood on the floor, not even on the white undergown the corpse was wearing. Having lifted the crown from the body, she shoved it in mirror.

For some seconds the surface of the mirror blurred. She turned to the empty chair in the room. Her hand mirror lay there waiting for her. She pressed a kiss on her lost love. A moment she wistfully gazed into the mirror on the wall.

Elspeth closed her eyes in anticipation. She took a deep breath. Then she spoke those dreaded words she could never keep from her lips.

"Mirror, mirror" she whispered. Her voice shrill from excitement as she addressed the mirror. "am I still the fairest?"

Snow White's likeness appeared out of it. _"You are the fairest of them all." _Elspeth's heart leaped.

She stayed in the room admiring herself and teasing Snow White's likeness for a long time. The blue and red dress caught her eye. She discarded them for they were too simple for her taste.

Feeling very content with herself she left the room to find herself a more elegant gown and new jewellery. She chose a glistening dress from Snow White's wardrobe. It was pale green leaning towards the colour of soft sunlight. It perfectly matched her skin tone and hair.

When she joined king Alfred in the throne room Snow White's father had just arrived.

He truly was old now. A horrifying and hilarious sight. She lightly put her arms around him. "Welcome, father."

To her delight the men did not recognise one face of beauty from the other anymore. She was cheerful, more than Snow White ever was. Both kings only had eyes for her happiness. Even the bond of true love could not see through her guise.

Elspeth's old husband petted her bright orange locks which he held for black. "You looking so much better than last time I saw you."

"I am feeling much better as well. I have decided to take care of myself. Do you like it?"

"Very much. My dear, dear Snow White." He embraced her, she pulled away. She forced herself a pleasant smile as she quickly cried out to fetch dinner. "I'm starving, papa."

She sat down before either of the men did. During dinner Alfred whispered her sweet, hollow words. As the riffraff came to take away their empty plates he bend over to her. His hand firmly on her thigh. "My love, you knew I could not stand your moodiness a day longer. Didn't you? Thank you." He softly kissed her lips. "You look so extremely beautiful."

"Imagine how beautiful I will look tonight, in your bed." "oh I am." He said with a soft growl. _When __I slit your throat with one of my hair pins. _She sweetly smiled at him once more.

Soon she would be alone with her one true love. Cold and superficial as mirror-love may be, it was and always would be the only lasting love.

/

Yay my first finished fan fic on this site :D

So yes, Elspeth devoured Snow White and will now live forever in beauty. Isn't that nice?

Please review


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